Meteos...
...is a
2005 puzzle game for the
Nintendo DS. It joins
Tetris and
Lumines in the "Blocks falling from the sky for no reason"
category of puzzle games.
Story
The
developers of Meteos decided that the game absolutely needed some sort of
plot to put the game together. Maybe they just needed an excuse for the
space theme.
For no apparent reason, the so-called EVIL planet Meteos has been sending out "streams of phantasmagoric matter". These streams travel through space until they reach unsuspecting planets. Many planets have been destroyed. But when three Meteos of the same colour happen to align in a fantastic coincidence, they're back up to space for some reason and are obliterated. The planets still remaining form a defence strategy, and align the Meteos somehow. They send out a ship known as the Metamo Ark, made from Meteos themselves, which will somehow help others. This is not explained in the game, so don't ask me.
Overview
The
purpose of the game, as in just about any "Blocks falling from the sky for no reason" game, is to keep the blocks from reaching the top of the (
bottom)
screen.
Blocks are taken off of the screen when someone aligns three of them (either by using the stylus, or by attempting to use the D-Pad and A-Button). This forms what I'll call a "raft". These rafts will move upward, taking all blocks above them with them. Whether the blocks go off the screen (thus eliminating them) depends on the gravity of the planet you're playing on. If it doesn't, you can make that raft go higher by aligning 3 of the Meteos inside of it. If a raft returns to the earth, and the player quickly makes an alignment using the raft, the former raft and anything above the alignment will launch. If it's left for too long, the raft simply acts like other blocks. This is very hard to describe, but you should be able to find a gameplay video somewhere.
Unlike Lumines, Meteos is a wild and frantic game. The blocks begin to fall faster and faster, and you have to scramble to keep up with them. Sooner or later, you'll find yourself unable to keep up with the torrents and torrents of blocks, and they will reach the top (only one column has to), and your planet will be subjected to ANNIHILATION. There's a tool known as the speeder, which is activated by pressing an Icon or using the shoulder buttons. This tool makes Meteos drop faster, which would seem useless if it weren't for time modes. If you have a 1 minute limit, you want to get as many off the screen as possible, and you need the speeder to do this.
Planets
The planets in meteos are a very interesting addition, because they change how the game works in major ways. In some planets, meteos will instantly be launched into space, in some it will take a lot of force and successive ignitions. They also have different looking meteos, for
aesthetics, and have different
music and
sound effects. The sound effects when you create a raft and launch something off the screen are quite musical, making the end result of this and the background music some sort of
dynamic music.
Game Modes
- Simple - This is a mode where you can choose from stock (game ends when # lives are taken) or time (game ends when so much time runs out). Computers can be added.
- Star Trip - This is what could be described as the story mode of the game. You travel from planet to planet saving them from Meteos. There are three types of trip, linear, a sort of odd linearish mode where you have a choice of 2 paths, and a pyramid-like mode with many paths and endings.
- Time War - This is a mode where you try to beat records in specific situations. Most points in 2 minutes, most points in 5 minutes, and fastest obliteration of 100 and 1000 Meteos. It's actually buckets of fun.
- Deluge - This appears to be exactly the same thing as a 1 stock simple match. I don't get it.
The game also has multiple and single cartridge multiplayer, so you can play whether your friends have the game or not.
Buying Things
Whenever you obliterate Meteos in the game, it adds them to your stockpile of Meteos. You have different stockpiles for different types of Meteos, you'll have so many fire, water, electricity, plant, soul, wind, and earth. These Meteos can be used to purchase planets,
items (even the negative ones, for some reason), Rare Meteos for more fusion, and, last and least,
audio.
My Experiences
Meteos is one of my favourite titles for my DS. Even though I make fun of it in this writeup, it's a lot of fun, it's
addictive, and has a
pick-up-and-play feel to it. The
multiplayer is a LOT of fun, but I haven't been able to play much of it since I only know one person with a DS, and they don't have Meteos. We can play it if we really want, but we're limited to one planet and can always play
New Super Mario Bros. or
Mario Kart DS instead. Meteos itself is well worth purchasing, and is, quite simply, a fun game to pick up and play.